Pet Sitters/Time Away Question

[sivyaleah]

We're contemplating a long vacation for 2017.  My fiance and I haven't been on a real vacation in years and we're at that point where we need it!

I'm about to interview a local pet sitting company, bonded and insured and they come with very high reviews.

My question doesn't relate to the pet sitter, who I am assuming and hoping will be experienced and reliable. I'm more concerned about the emotional impact being gone for potentially 2 weeks might be for the cats themselves.

Has anyone gone away for a decent length of time and, how did you cats do? Did they seem any different upon your return? Happy? Depressed? Confused? Whatever.

I'm really wrestling with if it's a good idea to allow ourselves the luxury of being away so many days.  Casper is diabetic and while the pet sitter does administer insulin injections, and Casper is now stable with the meds, I still would worry.  And Cocoa, is somewhat shy with newcomers and I'm not sure if she'll be able to bond with them enough to get good human interaction all those days.  In fact, both Casper and Cocoa really enjoy being with us, so it's a concern.

 

[Kieka]

When I was a kid we'd go on week long vacations and the cats never had a problem with the pet sitter coming over. Ours was our neighbors teenager and we asked her to just hang out for an hour and watch TV during the day (after feeding and refilling water bowls). That gave the cats a sense that someone was home and if they wanted attention she was sitting quietly for them to approach. Our shy cat usually would start approaching her by the third or fourth day. 

In general though, pet sitters know what they are doing and you'll be surprised how your cats act when you aren't home. Usually the pet sitters just being there will give the cats enough human affection that they won't feel abandoned. They will miss you in their way but as long as they have food, water and toys they will be fine. 

I am glad you aren't going the kennel route. I had to do that once for 4 days and it was a nightmare (house was getting tented and hotels didn't accept pets). Both cats lost weight and one didn't move (at least that anyone could tell) the entire time. They recovered quickly but never again.... although Link is doing well at the vet for the past 5 days but I visit each day and he is medicated.

 

[paiger8]

I just got back from a 9 day vacation and left my 2 cats at home. I have a friend that stayed at my house while I was gone and they were fine. They're certainly extra clingy now that I'm home, but they were totally fine while I was gone. One of my cats is super sociable so he was fine, but his sister took a couple days to warm up to my friend. She's always kind of standoffish, so that's not unusual. 

I bought extra treats and toys to keep them occupied while I was gone.  

 

[AbbysMom]

Abby is much more clingy when we get home. She sometimes pulls out extra fur and will eat less while we are away. Within a half hour of us getting home she usually gallops around the house, lets out a few loud meows (which she never does) and then will settle down into a deep sleep, like she can finally relax.

We have someone come in once a day.

 

[sivyaleah]

Abby is much more clingy when we get home. She sometimes pulls out extra fur and will eat less while we are away. Within a half hour of us getting home she usually gallops around the house, lets out a few loud meows (which she never does) and then will settle down into a deep sleep, like she can finally relax.

We have someone come in once a day.

We'd have them come 2x a day because of the insulin situation.

I'm thinking it may have to be 3x a day because Casper is known to barf more than occasionally although, since he was diagnosed with diabetes and on insulin, he does this much less often.  Maybe once every week or two while it used to be nearly daily.

Well, thanks both because that made me feel better.  I guess it's just "parental" guilt lol.

 

[who3rescued3who]

When we go away, which unfortunately happened a lot this summer due to a family death, our cats were OK while we were gone. Kizmitt didn't care,but was very glad to see us. Charlie however, snubbed me every time I came back. Sometimes for hours! Letting me know how it felt I guess...lol
He's my baby, my shadow, my smuggler. I can understand why he'd be upset [emoji]128522[/emoji]

 

[Alicia88]

Cats are much more independent than dogs so it's easier to leave them for a vacation.  I've gotta figure out what I'm gonna do in March when we go to Texas for my friend's wedding.  I don't know of any pet sitting companies around here and none of my more reliable friends live in my town - they're all at least 20-30 miles away.

 

[catlover73]

I just got back from being out of town for 8 days last weekend. I had two friends check on the cats every day while we were gone. They alternated days. My friends knew each other and are comfortable communicating with each other if adjustments needed to be made to the schedule. One of my cats unfortunately hides from anyone but us. She even hides from our friends when we are home. My other 3 enjoyed the attention from our friends. 3 of my cats welcomed us home immediately. My oldest one let us see her briefly and then went back under the bed. She slept on the bed that night. By the next day everything with all 4 cats was back to normal.

 

[jcat]

We usually go away for 8 days and have a pet sitter come 2x a day, though once it was for two weeks. MoglI is a bit clingy when we get back, but he eats, plays with the sitter, gets brushed and petted, etc. while we're gone.

Our shelter also boards pets, and it's rare for a cat to hide after the first day or two (they're in rooms without strange cats, not cages). Many don't hide at all and make right up with everybody. What I have experienced is cats being mad at their owners when they come to pick them up, so a shelter worker has to put them in the carrier.

 

[betsygee]

We generally do 'long weekend' trips, four days or so and the cats are fine with twice a day visits from the sitter.  When it's a longer trip, 10 days or more, the sitter does overnight stays two or three times.  It's more expensive, of course, but kitties get more attention and snuggle time that way.

 

[badems human]

I have a kitten, who is 5 months old now. We got her when she was 3 months old and 2 months later we got her (which is a week ago) we went on a 5 day long vacation. I know this is shorter than you're vacation but I hope it gives you somewhat of an opinion. 

So, Badem is a shy kitty. When someone other than us comes our home, she gets nervous. She does not run away and hide, but she just freezes or doesn't move very much and watch. And when that person interacts with her she lets him/her do it and after smelling the person, she walks away  slowly to a place that she feels secure and sits there. She did the same with the sitter too. And after only seeing her once, I left her with the sitter. I hired mine twice a day, just in case because that would be the first time that she would be alone such long hours. I'm at home all the time, so she only gets to be alone in the house for a few hours, not much. She did really well with her. She did only use her litter box and didn't trash the house. The only thing I noticed was her apetite. She's not eating as much as before. I mean she's eating, not refusing food. But she just nibbles a bit and then walks away. That concerns me a little bit but probably she'll get back to her old eating habits in time. 

I think, since you have 2 kitties at home, they will probably be OK because they will still be social when you're away. Usually if you have multi pets, they do better. Mine was very young and I think she did well too. Hope you have a great vacation and hope they have a great time too. I'm sure they'll miss you and purr a lot when you come back!

 

[Columbine]

We had a few long trips when I was a kid (mostly 2 weeks, but one was a couple of months...dad was working abroad and we went out to be with him for part of the time). We always had family staying over to house and cat sit, but the cats definitely didn't know them as they were rare visitors most of the time. The cats always seemed glad to see us when we got home, but weren't overly stressed or clingy. They were all pretty laid back characters though.

We also cat-sat for friends when they were away. One that sticks in my mind was a friend who went back to Japan to see family, and got sick whilst she was over there. Her cats were absolutely fine, but when summer turned to autumn and their house had no heat we did open the front door one day to find them curled up together on the doorstep! (all cats - ours and hers - were indoor/outdoor ) They half moved in with us until their meowmy came home, and then just trotted back over to her like nothing had happened :lol3: Another friend's burmese also did very well with us popping in a few times a day, though when he got lonely he did come to ours sometimes Looking back, it's amazing that we never had any territorial disputes with all the coming and going :lol3:

In short, Casper and Cocoabean will most likely do just fine I would suggest leaving Feliway diffusers plugged in just in case though...and a few worn articles of clothing to snuggle into can only help matters. So long as you trust and are happy with the sitter(s), they should be happy enough

 

[motorcyclist]

Personally I think it's the most stress free way to care for your pet when away and I'm speaking both as a cat dad and a pet sitter.  Some cats don't deal with change very well, especially a change in environment.  Even if they don't open up to the sitter when they come, just the fact that they're home and able to be in their favorite spots they'll be so much better than if they're boarded somewhere.

Personally, we trade with our neighbor when we travel.  She takes care of our kitties and vice versa.  There is absolutely no shyness on the part of any of our cats after six years in our current neighborhood.

Speaking as a sitter, I've seen many kitties described as shy open up to me quickly when the owners are away.  I've been told by many that I'm a bit of a cat whisperer but  I have had many people tell me I may not even see the cat while they're away and the kitty is out and giving me love on day one.  Sometimes it takes a day or two but in the decade or so I've been doing this I've only had one cat that truly wanted to be on his own in the house when the parents were away.  If you're able to maintain the same sitter going forward then it will be that much better for your cats as over time they'll be more and more comfortable with that individual as the years go by.  The sitter will also have more and more familiarity with your pet and will be better able to recognize when/if something is off with their actions.

The trick of course is finding the right person.  Have them come by to meet you and the cats and see how the interaction goes.  Most sitters (me included) are happy to provide updates and even pics for you while you're away so you can see how your cats are doing.

I'd certainly miss them when gone for such a long trip but I wouldn't worry about them at all in terms of their health.  As much as I do love to travel I also hate it because I hate leaving them behind  One of ours is a little annoyed with us when we return but he gets over it in a day or so.  The others are just there seeking as much love as they can get when we walk in the door.

 

[angels mommy]

Personally I think it's the most stress free way to care for your pet when away and I'm speaking both as a cat dad and a pet sitter.  Some cats don't deal with change very well, especially a change in environment.  Even if they don't open up to the sitter when they come, just the fact that they're home and able to be in their favorite spots they'll be so much better than if they're boarded somewhere.

Personally, we trade with our neighbor when we travel.  She takes care of our kitties and vice versa.  There is absolutely no shyness on the part of any of our cats after six years in our current neighborhood.

Speaking as a sitter, I've seen many kitties described as shy open up to me quickly when the owners are away.  I've been told by many that I'm a bit of a cat whisperer but  I have had many people tell me I may not even see the cat while they're away and the kitty is out and giving me love on day one.  Sometimes it takes a day or two but in the decade or so I've been doing this I've only had one cat that truly wanted to be on his own in the house when the parents were away.  If you're able to maintain the same sitter going forward then it will be that much better for your cats as over time they'll be more and more comfortable with that individual as the years go by.  The sitter will also have more and more familiarity with your pet and will be better able to recognize when/if something is off with their actions.

The trick of course is finding the right person.  Have them come by to meet you and the cats and see how the interaction goes.  Most sitters (me included) are happy to provide updates and even pics for you while you're away so you can see how your cats are doing.

I'd certainly miss them when gone for such a long trip but I wouldn't worry about them at all in terms of their health.  As much as I do love to travel I also hate it because I hate leaving them behind  One of ours is a little annoyed with us when we return but he gets over it in a day or so.  The others are just there seeking as much love as they can get when we walk in the door.

That's great! I see you are not too far from me. I live in Wilmington.
If I ever get to travel, you may have to come down, & sit for me! Lol! [emoji]128513[/emoji]

 

[lykakitty]

My boyfriend and I have gone out of town a couple times (though never for longer than a weekend) and have a good friend who lives nearby who takes care of the animals while we're gone. My 2 younger cats (both a year old and very social and outgoing) do great with her and don't act much different other than being really excited when we get home. They keep themselves and each other occupied and as far as my friend could tell haven't ever shown any signs of being stressed at all while we were gone. Maya is a different story, being an abuse rescue with anxiety issues, and tends to just go into hiding whenever anybody she's not very comfortable with is over so having a petsitter is hard for her. We make sure anybody taking care of her knows her background and how to gently handle her if she chooses to come out and interact with them, and not to try to give her attention if she doesn't seek it out, and she's slowly getting better. I think most cats do fine as long as the petsitter understands any special situations like that and how to handle them. They'll miss you while you're gone but I think as long as they realize somebody is over for them to be with if they want to they won't be too anxious or stressed. Just make sure to love on them plenty when you get home!

 

[tamu708]

I've gone on vacation to visit my relatives in the West Bank often.  While I was gone, there was always someone home to care for the cats.  The longest I went was for 1 month which was in 2011.  The other times I've gone for 2-3 weeks.  Whenever I came back, my Thomas (crossed the bridge in 2015) would give me the cold shoulder, but it would only last a few hours.  When I'd go by him, he would turn his head in disgust, but I think it was all an act, because I could hear him purring.  He was a real sweetie pie and could never hold a grudge.  My Sandra (who also passed away in 2016) would come straight away to greet me and investigate my belongings.  And same with Basil, he would come right away and would also be anxious to sleep next to me.  

I haven't gone on vacation in a couple of years.  I do worry about my cat Yunis (has been with us for a little over a year).  He was abandoned by his previous owners and was a very shy and skittish cat when we first brought him home.  He's opened up now and is doing good.  But he's really attached to me.  He knows about what time I go to bed and if I'm late, he gets very vocal.  Even when I get home from work, I have to straight away and give him attention or he will get vocal.  So I worry if I were to go on vacation, it would stress him.  

But I agree with the previous poster, make sure you give them extra love and attention when you get back.  I think they will be fine.